Viasat to acquire Inmarsat

US-based satellite communications provider Viasat has agreed to purchase UK-based mobile satcom business Inmarsat, creating an entity that can provide more scale and scope to commercial and government customers, according to the two companies.

“We'll have instant global coverage and high-density, ultra high-capacity regional coverage to serve fixed- and mobile-geographic hot spots with multiple layers of redundancy and resilience everywhere,” Viasat executive chairman and co-founder Mark Dankberg told analysts on 8 November.

Under the USD7.3 billion deal, Inmarsat shareholders will receive USD850 million in cash and USD3.1 billion in Viasat stock, and Viasat will assume USD3.4 billion in Inmarsat debt.

Viasat plans to preserve and grow Inmarsat's London headquarters and add Inmarsat chairman Andrew Sukawaty to its board of directors. The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2022 after receiving regulatory approval.

Inmarsat is owned by a consortium that consists of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, and private equity firms Apax Partners of the UK and Warburg Pincus of the US. Viasat is listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange.